He made the statement in an interview with Nezavisne Novine daily of Wednesday.
The US Institute for Peace has drafted one option of possible constitutional changes under which Bosnia would be organised as centralised parliamentary democracy with one president, one parliament and one government.
McElhaney said Bosnia had a structured government and had achieved a certain level of economic development, but added the presence of the international community was too evident. He said the United States wanted Bosnia to assume control and expected Bosnian politicians to take steps in that direction.
The ambassador said the talks in Washington would focus on how to move from the Dayton agreement, which ended the war 10 years ago, towards the European Union.
Although Bosnian politicians assessed recent talks on constitutional changes in Brussels as unsuccessful, McElhaney expects progress in Washington. He said the talks would focus on the structure of the state presidency, government and parliament.
The ambassador added that Serb politicians who would take part in the Washington talks had decided to issue a joint statement on cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal.
He was hopeful the statement would urge Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to surrender.